Friday, 11 September 2009

Well, well, well. I was one of the six winners at the Novel Matters Audience With an Agent contest. The six lovely ladies who write for that blog (and who are all with the Books & Such Literary Agency) sifted through a slush pile of applicants and selected six to be forwarded to agent Wendy Lawton.

OK, you might be saying, why do you need a contest to query an agent? And the answer is: you don't, of course. But I suspect an agent is going to take a closer, harder, longer look at queries (complete with synopses and first chapters) that come with a recommendation from six people whose taste in writing she respects. She is also promising feedback, something you don't normally get with a query. So I am well-pleased, and very grateful to have been selected.

And, as any writer knows, a shot of affirmation now and then is a wonderful thing. Especially when it comes from professionals.

You bet it gives you an edge with the agents. Anything, anything at all, that sets you apart from the rest of the query slush is a huge plus--and having been selected for your writing by an impartial bunch puts you automatically ahead of the pack.

This is terrific news, Janet... not quite on par with a grandchild, I guess... but close! ;-p Many prayers with you on it. As you said, just to have been selected should keep you fueled for awhile, even if the woman fell off the planet tomorrow, without reading anything. And as impersonal as this industry can be, the feedback will be awesome. I hope you'll share some of that in detail when it comes back.

Thanks, David. But that's now one more thing to be on pins and needles about. ;o) The way I usually try to deal with this sort of thing is to just completely forget it and to move on to the next thing in the game plan.

G, depends on what it is, of course. ;o) Anything concrete, good or bad, will be more than welcome as far as feedback goes.

Oh yes, redundancy must be avoided at all costs, no matter what it takes. You should definitely avoid leaving a comment then. A redundancy of encouragement is particularly pernicious.

Personally, I love semi-colons; provided they are used correctly. I am also seditiously fond of adverbs, and other things that award-winning writers are expected to eschew. I'm not setting myself up to win many awards, am I?